2 Chapter 2: 49%

"Hello young man."

Touya's heavy eyelids opened, and he quickly jumped up from the ground. He took the time to examine his surroundings...or lack thereof.

It was complete darkness. Not a sign of life in sight for miles. He couldn't feel a single thing. He couldn't describe the feeling as numb, he could lean more towards the idea of not having a sense of touch. There were no smells either. It was hazy, yet clear at the same time. He had a hard time breathing, and he felt absolutely weightless.

"Young man!"

He looked down to see a black cat with a bell collar staring up at him.

"You can talk?"

"Of course I can, but I guess you've only seen my kind in fiction. So that explains the shock" The unnaturally formal cat jumped onto Touya's head, "My name is Kieran."

"Kieran?"

"That's correct. Have you ever heard of the myths about how cats collect the souls of the dead?"

"Yeah. And when those cats die, those souls will be sent into the afterlife?"

"Correct again. Your understanding of this will make things easier to explain for me. I'm a spirit."

Touya stood still before he sat down on the black ground. His worst nightmare had come true. He felt his chest get heavier at the thought, "Uh...Kieran. Did I die?"

"Nope. Not yet."

"Oh. So I'm about to die."

"Incorrect. I'm surprised you haven't questioned our location yet."

"Well...things have been moving way too fast today." He laid down on his back and took a deep breath, "I can barely afford to care."

"I see. You can relax here though. We're inside of your soul."

"Really?"

"You know, you can at least try to pretend like you care."

"I'm sorry. I do care. This is actually pretty cool." He stood back up and looked around, "How did we get here though?"

"You see. It appears that you no longer wish to keep your soul."

Touya's eyes went wide for a second, but he remembered his final words to Namika. "Am I stuck here? I need to go back!"

"No. Allow me to explain the situation." Kieran jumped off of Touya's head and leapt in front of him, "You said that you wanted to give up your soul. I heard those cries, and I have arrived in order to take it."

"Wait!" Touya felt a chill creep down his spine, "You can't be serious. I was just..."

"No. You weren't." Kieran took a deep breath.

Touya froze at the unnerving sight that unfolded before him. The fur present on Kieran's forehead spread apart, and a third eyeball appeared.

"Touya. I am a spirit. We have the ability to sense a soul's desire to merge, you meant every single word."

Deep down, Touya knew that Kieran was right. He really did mean every single word. However, he wanted to die, not forfeit his soul to a spirit. Although, dying is essentially the same thing.

"So now what? Are you gonna harvest my soul?"

"No. I want to gain possession of your soul, and before you get any ideas, it's not like how you humans make it out to be in fiction. I simply want to occupy your body."

"So...we're sharing souls?"

"Exactly. It's just that I will have more control. Think of it like 51% to 49%."

"Oh...that's not a big difference."

"Exactly. So you will still be selling your soul to me, but it's not like you'll become a brainless vessel."

"What's in it for me?"

"Perfect segway into my next topic."

"I asked the question-"

"Silence. I will pass on my powers to you."

"Powers?"

"Yes. My third eye allows me to see and manipulate chi energy. This would allow for you to do the same. It also gives you a fighting chance against other spirits, including the one that took your sister's soul."

"Wait-What?!"

"I guess you wouldn't have noticed. It is a pretty common occurrence for spirits to steal the souls of humans. You people call them comas, I believe."

Touya felt his heart sink as he heard him. The idea of someone actually stealing Tineka's soul had never even crossed his mind. Of course it didn't, he was never too superstitious or spiritual. The idea honestly seemed farfetched, but the fact that he was talking to a cat inside of his own soul made him accept that truth. "Oh..."

"Moving on, we spirits live in the same world as you humans. You can fight spirits if you have the powers of spirits in your disposal."

"I see. Does this mean that I can fight the spirit that took Tineka's soul?"

"Yes. It seems like you're understanding me now." Kieran smiled at Touya, "So...what do-"

"I accept."

"What?"

"I accept." Touya clenched his fists as tears ran down his face, "For the longest time...I've felt so useless. My sister...was gone...I couldn't do a thing. I just felt so useless and in the way...but now, you're telling me that I can save her?"

"Yes. In fact, you may be the only one that can save her."

"Thank you! Kieran, I owe you my life!" A smile appeared on Touya's face as hugged the small cat. "Thank you so much!"

"Alrighty then."

Touya released Kieran and took a deep breath to compose himself, "So. How do we do it?"

"Simple. We touch hand and paw, and say "Bond." He reached out with his paw aimed towards Touya.

Touya reached out with his fist, "Okay."

"Bond."

"Bond."

A blinding cascade of lights flashed everywhere, nearly blinding Touya. As the light vanished, he could only see Kieran again.

"Touya. You will wake up as if nothing had happened."

"Good. Will we still be able to communicate?"

"Of course. I'll explain that when you wake up."

"Got it."

The strange dark dimension began to fall apart, and Touya felt himself growing sleepier. He felt like his stomach was dropping. Everything surrounding him began to dematerialize, along with Kieran.

"Do not mention this meeting to anyone. It's for your well being...and theirs..."

Touya saw the small cat's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear a single word.

-

Touya felt the weight of something on top of him. It wasn't too heavy, and it felt familiar. His eyes opened, and he immediately recognized that he was laying in his bedroom. To his right, he noticed Namika was laying on him, asleep. She looked so angelic, although she always looked so beautiful. Her eye shadow was somewhat smeared, but she had fixed herself up compared to earlier.

His shirt was damp, probably from her tears. Seeing his shirt made him realize that she probably brought him to his room and undressed him. He wiggled his toes to feel for his shoes, but he noticed that he was barefooted.

He held Namika closer and kissed her on her forehead. He watched her beautiful eyelashes flutter as she opened her eyes. As soon as they locked eyes, she jumped up.

"Touya?! Oh thank God."

They held onto each other as tight as they could have without hurting one another.

"I had panicked when you first collapsed, but I noticed that you were still breathing. I had just assumed that you had passed out from starving yourself all day."

"Oh. I guess I did."

"You need to stop stressing out, Peachy..."

Touya's face went blank as he stared at her, "That name again?"

"What? You told me that it was alright to call you that when we're alone."

Touya laughed as Namika straddled his lap and kissed him on his lips, "Whatever. Are you okay? I apologize for earlier."

"Don't say sorry. That was the first time you've opened up to me in years." She planted another kiss on his lips.

"That actually felt refreshing, and I have a vision now."

"For what?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm gonna be okay from now on."

"You sure?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay. Just don't forget to tell me when things get too much for you to handle. I'm always here for you babe."

"Got it."

They continued to kiss as Touya ran his hands up and down her back. For once, he legitimately felt happy.

He sat up to remove his shirt, and temporarily broke their kiss to remove Namika's shirt. He reached up to her neck and gently applied pressure, making her purr in satisfaction.

"I needed this."

"Facts."

Namika reached around to undo the strap on her bra, until they heard someone knock on the door.

"Touya? Are you up?"

Namika swiftly jumped off of Touya and pulled her shirt back on.

"Yeah!" Touya jumped out of bed and threw his shirt back on, "What's up?" He ran towards the door to open it up to see his mother.

"Namika told me that you passed out yesterday."

"Yeah. I didn't eat yesterday."

"Come here!" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into the living room and sat him down on the couch. "Eat!" She handed him a plate of fried chicken with mashed potatoes.

Touya stared at the plate for a second before he felt his mouth water. This was the first time he actually felt hungry in a while.

"Thank you for the food!" As his mouth began to water, a burst of energy rushed through his body before another smile crept onto his face.

Namika stepped out of the room and fixed her hair, "Hey Eve."

"Good morning Namika."

Namika sat down next to Touya as he started to dig into his meal. "Is it good?"

"Mhmm..." Inside his head, he began to ponder on how he was going to make a change in his life. Knowing that he had the ability to save Tineka, he was excited for whatever came next.